Vitiligo and lupus, treatments and effects

                Jackson's skin was a medium-brown color throughout his youth, but, starting in the mid 1980s, his skin gradually grew more pale through what was widely considered to be skin bleaching and changing of his features to appear European. These changes gained widespread media coverage. According to J. Randy Taraborrelli's biography, in 1986, Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus; the vitiligo partially lightened his skin, and the lupus was in remission; both illnesses made him sensitive to sunlight, which could have caused his lupus condition to recur.

                To treat these conditions, Jackson used Solaquin, Tretinoin and Benoquin. He also had hydroxychloroquine injected directly into his scalp regularly. The treatments he used for his condition further lightened his skin tone, and with the application of pancake makeup to even out his skin tone, he could appear very pale.

In February 1993, Jackson gave an unusually candid ninety-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey, his first televised interview since 1979. During this interview, he dismissed suggestions that he bleached his skin, declaring publicly for the first time that he suffered from vitiligo and that he used heavy makeup to even out his complexion. The interview was watched by 62 million Americans. It also started a public discourse on the topic of vitiligo, a relatively unknown condition before then. Jackson's autopsy confirmed that he had vitiligo.

                 During the Australian leg of the HIStory World Tour, Jackson married his dermatologist's nurse, Debbie Rowe. The pair first met in the mid-1980s, when Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo. She spent many years treating his illness as well as providing emotional support, and they built a strong friendship before becoming romantically involved. The couple divorced in 1999 and remained friends thereafter.

                 <sup>The structure of his face changed too; several surgeons speculated that, by the mid 1990s, he had undergone multiple nasal surgeries, a forehead lift, thinned lips, and cheekbone surgery. According to biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, Jackson had his first rhinoplasty after breaking his nose during a complex dance routine in 1979. However, the surgery was not a complete success, and he complained of breathing difficulties that would affect his career. He was referred to Steven Hoefflin, who performed his second rhinoplasty in 1980. Katherine Jackson, though, has said in a recent interview that Michael intentionally got his first nosejob. Jackson wrote in his 1988 autobiography Moonwalk that, in addition to the two rhinoplasties, he also had a dimple created in his chin. From 1986 onward he was a regular client of Arnold Klein, a dermatologist who specializes in dermal filler injection, a non-surgical cosmetic procedure.

In his book, Jackson attributed the changes in the structure of his face to puberty, a strict vegetarian diet, weight loss, a change in hair style and stage lighting. Jackson denied allegations that he had altered his eyes. By 1990, the full extent of Jackson's surgery was widely debated; those close to the singer estimated he had undergone ten operations on his face up to this point. In June 1992, the Daily Mirror ran a full, front page picture, allegedly of Jackson's face, which they described as "hideously disfigured" by plastic surgery. Jackson sued the tabloid and in 1998 they agreed to an out-of-court settlement with Jackson. At the High Court, the paper's former editor acknowledged that after meeting the singer in person, he believed that Jackson was neither hideously disfigured nor scarred at all. A Daily Mirror solicitor maintained that the publication did not tamper with the picture.</sup>